US root cause of all tensions in Mideast: IRGC chief

The commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has called the United States the root cause of all tensions in the Middle East, rejecting accusations raised by the US and its Arab allies that Iran was behind the attacks on four vessels off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Major General Hossein Salami on Friday categorically denied Iran's involvement in the vessel attacks in Fujairah port, saying, "Iran is a powerful country. We do not need to hide anything. If we do something, we'll announce it publicly."

He made the comments in reaction to allegations by US National Security Advisor John Bolton and some Saudi and Emirati officials that the IRGC launched the attacks through its "proxies".

Speaking to Press TV on the sidelines of the International Quds Day rallies in Tehran, General Salami said "Iranians don't take the Arab states' anti-Iran stances and remarks seriously."

"Some primitive Arab regimes in the Persian Gulf are sidekicks of the US and under total control of Washington, and their comments and messages are not even worthy of any response," he added.

Opening a gathering of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Wednesday, the kingdom’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf blasted “Iranian interference in other nations' affairs” and urged "firmness and determination” over the recent mysterious attacks on commercial vessels off the coast of Fujairah. He made the remarks just hours after Bolton alleged Tehran was almost certainly behind oil tanker attacks.

General Salami further described this year’s Quds Day rallies and the huge participation of Iranians as a revolution just like that of 1979, saying that Iranians have always stood by Palestinians in defending their cause and nothing can defeat such solidarity.

Millions of people in Iran and elsewhere marked the International Quds Day on Friday and condemned a Middle East plan touted by US President Donald Trump as the "deal of the century".

Iranians took to the streets in massive numbers after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called this year's rallies more important than ever.

People in Tehran and other cities flocked to main streets to support Palestinians who are facing the dangerous prospect of a sellout of their rights through the US plan.

Demonstrators carried banners with slogans such as “Al-Quds is the eternal capital of Palestine” and “Death to America” as well as "No to the deal of the century".

Press TV